“And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”” (Mark 1:4–11, NIV)     

Jesus’s baptism was a transition. It marked the beginning of his ministry. It is not just a story, it’s a turning point. In John 2:4, Jesus told Mary that his time had not come yet. But now in Mark 1:4 through 11 his time has come. I think about the scene by the Jordan River. There were crowds there waiting to get baptized by John the Baptist. And then Jesus shows up. Some of the people there might have known him as a person, but they did not realize that this Jesus, this person that they knew as the son of the carpenter from Nazareth was the Savior for all humanity.

What can we, as Christians today, learn from this moment in Jesus’s life? How does Jesus’s baptism by John in the Jordan River speak into our lives today, especially as we begin the new year? This text that we’re looking at today is not just an account to admire, it is a layered event, full of meaning for our lives here and now. As the brand-new year stretches out before us, full of unknown things, we can find comfort and direction right here on the bank of the Jordan River with Jesus.